.vibe
Is .vibe a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
.vibe is contested: 7 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list, as of 7 October 2026. They are Identity Digital, GoDaddy Registry, Automattic, Intercap, Radix, Phoenix Domain Partners and Link Freedom Group. XYZ Registry named .vibe as a backup string for its .flow application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup. ShortDot named .vibe as a backup string for its .omg application. ICANN deactivated it, because another applicant applied for the same string or named it as a backup.
Who is applying, and what they run today
Five of the seven already run TLDs, 32.84M names between them. Two run one of .vibe's closest 2012 strings: Identity Digital .cool and Radix .fun. Link Freedom Group and Phoenix Domain Partners run none.
Will names sell?
A catchy, mood-forward ending for creators, music, and lifestyle brands, but rarely the main address of a serious project.
Last round the AI scored the 2012 strings blind to their fate. Strings it scored 60 or more hold a median 27,168 names today; those under 30, a median of 30. .vibe’s closest 2012 strings hold .cool 23K, .fun 447K and .buzz 220K.
The nearest 2012 strings, and how many names each holds today
The closest 2012 string, .cool, held 23,197 names, June 2026. .fun held 446,583; .buzz held 219,719. Chosen by AI from every string in the 2012 round, without being told what happened to any of them.
Same bet: a contentless slang mood-word with no industry attached, sold purely on the promise that an attitude signal can carry a brand's primary identity, which only works as long as the slang stays current.
Same bet: a short abstract feeling-noun that describes an atmosphere rather than a category, aimed at expressive consumer, creative and entertainment brands who want the domain itself to do the emotional work.
Same bet in an older vernacular — a vague-positive zeitgeist word with no vertical, pitched at culture-adjacent and marketing-led brands, though it leans more media/attention than personal aesthetic identity.
Where they meet elsewhere
Identity Digital and XYZ Registry face each other in 77 contests this round, .vibe included.
- Identity Digital × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Link Freedom Group
- Identity Digital × GoDaddy Registry
- Link Freedom Group × XYZ Registry
- Identity Digital × Radix
creators, music and nightlife venues, lifestyle and wellness brands, community apps, and marketing teams wanting a playful campaign domain; secondarily indie developers riding vibe-adjacent tech slang.
What a .vibe domain is
.vibe is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, in our Culture category. 7 applications for it are on ICANN’s Reveal Day list.
Is the .vibe domain extension real yet?
.vibe is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. It is a string applicants have put forward in the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, the process that decides whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .vibe domain?
You can’t yet. A .vibe name can only be registered once the string is delegated (added to the DNS root) and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .vibe was .cool, delegated on 23 January 2014.
Is .vibe a real TLD?
Not yet. .vibe is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because .vibe is on ICANN’s Reveal Day list of applied-for strings. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- XYZ Registry · first recordedICANN
- ShortDot · now deactivated backupICANN
- ShortDot · now abandonedICANN
- 4 applicants · first recordedICANN
- 3 applicants · now confirmedICANN
- ShortDot · now announced
- ShortDot · first recordedShortDot (Ireland) Limited
- Radix · first recordedRadix
- Phoenix Domain Partners · first recordedDomain Name Wire
- Link Freedom Group · first recordedLink Freedom Group
The source’s 7 linesHide the lines
IRI2679T-T24714 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-242 KKWT2621T-T46596 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 LFGL2683T-T61039 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-242 MLG2688T-T19198 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-242 NA2631T-T64938 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 PB2674T-T93223 · Paws Button, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 RTIS2674T-T22331 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-242
The source’s 9 linesHide the lines
IRI2679T-T24714 · Intercap Registry Inc. · primary · contention set 2026-242 KKWT2621T-T46596 · Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 LFGL2683T-T61039 · Link Freedom Group Ltd · primary · contention set 2026-242 MLG2688T-T19198 · 101130013 Saskatchewan Ltd. · primary · contention set 2026-242 NA2626T-T38427 · ShortDot (Ireland) Limited · replacement string of .omg · Deactivated NA2631T-T64938 · Registry Services, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 PB2674T-T93223 · Paws Button, LLC · primary · contention set 2026-242 RTIS2674T-T22331 · Radix Technologies Inc SEZC · primary · contention set 2026-242 XL2625T-T11904 · XYZ.COM LLC · replacement string of .flow · Deactivated
“ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.”ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
“Radix has applied for these TLDs; we do not own or operate them today.”Radix
“Phoenix Domain Partners published 13 strings for which it says it has applied and paid the application fees.”Domain Name Wire
“.vibe · Culture · “Set the tone, change the mood.””Link Freedom Group
- Band chosen: 30-49, usable but limited. The word is short, universally understood, emotionally positive, and reads naturally after a brand name (brand.vibe), which should drive real registration volume at retail and some campaign/redirect use over the next 5 years. By analogy to other mood/slang endings such as .cool, .fun, .lol, and .wtf (analogy, not verified data), demand for this kind of string tends to be price-driven and event-driven: plenty of registrations, occasional clever brand uses, but few companies adopting it as their primary identity, and a thin aftermarket where value sits in a handful of dictionary-word SLDs. It is not in the 50-69 band because there is no single category where it is a plausible primary-identity default; adoption would need explaining to most stakeholders, and renewal retention on slang TLDs has historically been the weak point (analogy). It is above the 10-29 band because the word is durable everyday vocabulary rather than a dated meme, spans music, wellness, hospitality, and creator culture, and its tech-slang currency (e.g. informal 'vibe' usage around AI-assisted coding) gives it more than shallow event-driven demand. Applicant context: LFG, which filed more than 300 strings in the ICANN 2026 round and published its list ahead of Reveal Day, catalogs it under Culture with the tagline 'Set the tone, change the mood.' — a portfolio-scale applicant, which informs likely mass-market retail positioning rather than restricted community use. Main market uncertainty: whether the word's current cultural salience persists or fades into dated slang within 5 years, which would collapse renewals and any aftermarket. Registration counts, comparable pricing, and analogous TLD volumes: unknown.